Just Like Magic (George Weasley)

Ten.

George walked me back to the Slytherin Common Room after the Ball was over. He ended up being such a great date. I was almost glad that Beckett turned on me, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to spend the night with George.
   
When we reached the room, Draco Malfoy was about to enter, but not before he called, "Watch out for that one, Weasley! She might sick her murdering father or her werewolf Godfather on you if you get her angry!"
   
"Piss off, Draco!" I called back to him, George laughed at my response
   
"I like how you don't let him talk to you like that," he replies, a smile on his lips.
   
"It's Malfoy," I say, crossing my arms over my chest, "He's foul, and I don't like people like him. He doesn't know my dad, and he hardly knows Lupin outside of him being our Professor last year. It's not right."
   
"I agree," he says, nodding. His head of long hair flopping as he did so.
   
"Thank you for being there, George, really. You didn't have to save me like that."
   
"Oh no believe me I know I didn't have to. I wanted to. I was glad that I could. That guy was a total ass for what he did to you."
   
"He was," I agree, "but I'm used to it. Everyone treats me like that because of my dad. And they're going to as long as Peter is on the run and we can't get my dad's name cleared."
   
"It's not fair, but hey, I'll be there for you if you need a friend."
   
I look down at my feet, "I might have to take you up on that, because I kind of blew up on Nadine tonight."
   
"What? When did that happen?"
   
"When you and Fred were talking to Ludo Bagman. She came over to me and made a stupid comment about you that I didn't like. I went off on her for it. Told her not to talk about you like that."
   
"I see," he says nodding, "And what did she say about me, may I ask?"
   
"Just that she didn't want to see me with you at the ball or something stupid like that. I don't remember her exact wording. I just rolled my eyes and reminded her that the guy she picked for me was such a prize. Then she said she agreed with him, can you believe that?"
   
"Wow, I'm so sorry, Penelope. This just hasn't been a good night for you, has it?"
   
"Well, it wasn't all bad," I say, a small smile creeping up on my lips. "I had fun with you, George. Really I did. I had a great time."
   
He smiles a big, genuine smile, "Thank you. I had a great time with you, too."
   
I did something unexpected then. I hugged him. I'm normally not one for hugs, or any human physical contact, but right now I felt like hugging George, so I did. He hugged me back, and he held onto me as long as I did to him. Then he watched me enter the Common Room.
   
I headed to bed, not worried about running into Nadine. I wasn't sorry for blowing up on her. She deserved it then. As far as I'm concerned, this whole thing means nothing to me. I was just fine without her, honestly. I had a new friend in George. A kind, honest friend.
   
She wasn't even in our dorm room when I got back, and all the other fifth year girls were asleep, so I just undressed and changed into my pajamas before going to bed. I heard Nadine come in after I was lying down, but I just acted like I was asleep and she didn't try to wake me so I just let her be.
   
The next morning I read a book at breakfast so no one would bother me. Usually people left me alone if I had a book with me. It worked, and I was able to eat in peace. About halfway through breakfast, I was joined by Beckett. He had a new shiny black eye.
   
"Holy shit what happened to you?" I asked as I looked up at him.
   
"It's nothing," he assures, "just got into a little disagreement with someone. It's fine, it will heal. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for what I did last night. It wasn't right of me. You're a very nice girl, Penelope. You didn't deserve that."
   
"Well, Beckett, if my life has taught me anything it's that you can't dwell on the past. You did a shitty thing to me last night, man. But George was there for me, so the night didn't totally blow. It happened, and you can't take it back. But I still ended up having fun, and you feel bad, so just don't do something like that to anyone else and you'll be fine. Now, get out of here before I start to practice Transfiguration on you."
   
He walks away without another word, like I told him too. He was smart to listen to me,  because I was already trying to remember how to turn him into a pig as soon as he walked over to me.
   
"Asshole," I murmured to myself before I sip my tea and then went back to reading my book.
   
That was about as exciting as my day got. I couldn't figure out how to get my hair back to curly after Nadine had used a spell to make it smooth and straight, and I wasn't about to mess up my hair by trying to turn it back myself. So, I guess I have straight hair now. I used to not like my curls, because they reminded me of my dad, but now that my dad and I are getting close, I've grown to not mind them as much as I once did.
   
Hagrid wasn't at his job when term resumed, and we had no idea why until we caught a copy of the Daily Prophet had an article written by Rita Skeeter about him being a half giant. Which had comments about how awful of a teacher he was from Slytherin students. It was all to get back at Harry for not speaking to her after the first article about him.
   
There was a Hogsmeade visit halfway through January, but I didn't want to go. I'd gladly sit this one out. Nadine wasn't speaking to me, but honestly it didn't bother me much. I always felt so much less than next to her. It was nice not to have that anymore.
   
It was right before that Hogsmeade weekend when George found me in the Hallway. He was walking with Fred and Angelina. He stopped me by putting an arm around my shoulders saying, "Hey, Black, are you excited for Hogsmeade this weekend?"
   
"No, I don't want to," I admit to him.
   
"Really? Why not?"
   
"I don't know," I say, "I just don't want to."
   
"You gotta go, it will be fun," he urges.
   
"Yeah, well, it's alright. I'll get the next one. Nadine is still mad at me for getting mad at her at the ball. So I don't want to be walking around by myself."
   
"You can hang out with us," he says quickly, then he looks to his twin, "Right Fred?"
   
"Yeah, you can walk around with us."
   
"It's alright, guys, really. I'm going to spend the day trying to figure out how to get my hair back to normal. I need to reverse this spell."
   
"Oh, I know that one," says Angelina, "You should have come to me sooner, Black." She waves her wand, pointing it at me. And suddenly my hair is it's wild, curly mess again.
   
"Thank you," I say, smiling so wide.
   
"No problem. I use that one all the time."
   
"Well, it looks like your Saturday just opened up," says George, a sly smile on his face.
   
"It looks like it did," I say, nodding.

"So are you going to hang out with us or what?"

I take a second to think it over. But the truth was I knew what I wanted to do. "Yeah. I'll hang out with you."
   
George smiles again, "Good."
   
When Saturday came, I met Fred and George and their friend Lee Jordan after Breakfast and we walked to Hogsmeade together. They told me all about the joke shop they want to run, similar to Zonko's in Hogsmeade. They want to call it Weasley’s Wizarding Wheeze. It was an interesting name for sure, but I thought that owning and running a Joke shop is the perfect career move for them. It was risky, yeah, but owning your own business is risky no matter what type of business it is.
   
We actually spent the most time in Zonko's, they wanted to look at every single new product that they had. They said they needed to keep an eye on the competition. To be honest, I really enjoyed being with them. They were funny, and they didn't make me feel like I was a bomb ready to blow at any second. They treated me like a person, not the daughter of a murderer.
   
I mentioned that they should have some items similar to other Muggle prank items in their shop. So that way Muggle Born students and Half-Bloods like me wouldn't be so intimidated by the Wizard joke items. George thought this was a good idea. That way they could introduce some Muggle items to Wizards too. He thought that would be fun.
   
He smiles as he starts jotting down some Muggles prank items that he knew of, Silly String, Whoopie Cushions, fake vomit, all the big hits with Muggles. He smiled as he wrote them down, his smile only getting bigger every time he wrote a new one down.
   
His smile was truly adorable. In fact, George as a whole as a person, was just adorable. He was so kind, and caring. He was just a truly genuine person. He didn't hide who he was from anyone. I liked that. I really like that.
   
The more I thought about this, the more nervous I began to feel. Why was I nervous? Maybe I wasn't nervous? Maybe I was catching...feelings...romantic feelings. It would make sense, right? After what he did for me, and how nice he is. It makes sense I'd start to like him.
   
And damn if he wasn't physically just beautiful with those kind brown eyes and that big, adorable smile. His lips looked soft, like pillows, and that jawline that could cut glass. Shit. He was hot. It was time I admitted it to myself. I suddenly wanted to count every single freckle on his face.
   
Wow. I was already deeper in than I thought.

_______________________
Here's part 10!

Damn she's falling hard already!

I mean, I don't blame her though. George is absolutely perfect.

-Emily Winchester.